Sighting apparatus for use with ordnance



' lisai'iSi'im- 33-244. cm 1,36A.041 5R A. T. DAWSON AND J. HORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR USE WITH ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION man AUG 12, I920.

1,364,041 Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, OF WESTMINSTER, AND JAMES HORNE, OF BARROVV-INFURNESS, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO VICKERS LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, LON-DON, ENGLAND.

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR USE WITH ORDNANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

Original application filed November 10, 1919, Serial No. 337,043.Divided and this application filed August 12, 1920.

To all to ham it may concern:

Be it known that we, Sir ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, Bart, and Julius HORNE,both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing, respectively, atVickers House, Broadway, Westminster, in the county of London, England,and Naval Construction WVorks, Barrow-in-Furness, in the county ofLancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inor Relating to Sighting Apparatus for Use with Ordnance, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to sighting apparatus, for use with ordnance, ofthe kind comprising a telescope, sight bar or other sighting elementwhich is mounted independently of the gun or guns and is capable ofrotation in azimuth, this sighting element being employed fortransmitting training angles or elevation angles or both to the gun orguns.

According to the present invention we provide a hood or canopy whichprotects the sighting element and is rotatably mounted independently ofthe latter and we provide means of a non-rigid character for angularlydisplacing said hood or canopy in unison with the angular movement ofthe said element in azimuth, these means being so constructed andarranged as to avoid the production of any side drag upon the sightingelement and also to avoid undesirable strains on the sighting element inthe event of the axes of movements of the sighting element and the hoodor canopy being out of alinement or eccentric.

In order that the said element may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, we will describe the same more fully with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional sideelevation showing more or less diagrammatically a constructional form ofthe invention, and

Fig. 2 is a plan of the left hand portion of Fig. l.

A is a platform or rotating table carrying the sighting element K. B isthe hood or canopy for protecting the sighting element K and C is partof the fixed structure having a roller track C on which rollers Bcarried by the canopy run.

The constructional form of the means Serial No. 403,111.

shown for imparting rotary movement to the canopy comprises a rack Cattached to the fixed structure C and a pinion A engaging with thisrack. The said pinion is mounted on a radially disposed shaft aconnected by suitable gearing with the hand wheel A or similar devicecarried by the platform A for rotating the latter through uitablegearing which is not shown. The outer end of the said shaft is supportedby a bearing formed in a bracket B depending from the canopy B so thatrotation of the shaft and pinion causes the canopy to rotate in unisonwith the sighting element. The said shaft is provided with a flexiblecoupling arrangement such as a Hookes joint and also, if desired, with atelescopic or sliding coupling device; the latter may however bedispensed with by providing a certain amount of axial freedom ofmovement between the shaft a and the bracket B and thus allowing thepinion A to slide endwise on the teeth of the rack C in the event of theplatform A and the roller path C becoming eccentric. Thus lack ofconcentricity between the sighting element and the protecting canopywill not give rise to strains on the gear. It will be observed that thearrangement shown does not produce any side drag on the platform A sincethe bearing for the shaft a is carried by the canopy. It will thus beclear that two such shafts and pinions arranged opposite to one anotherwould have no further beneficial effect in so far as side drag on theplatform A is concerned; in cases where it may be desired to balance thepull at both sides of the rotating canopy two such shafts could howeverbe employed.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is 2- 1. In sighting apparatus for use with ordnance, of the kindcomprising a sighting element which is mounted independently of the gunor guns and is capable of rotation in azimuth, this sighting elementbeing employed for transmitting training angles or elevation angles orboth to the gun or guns, the combination with the sighting element, of arotatable table supporting the sighting element, a hood or canopy forprotecting said sighting element and rotatably mounted on a fixed partof the structure independently of said sighting element and said r0-tatable table, a device for imparting rotary motion to said table, andgearing interposed between said device and the hood or canopy, thisgearing comprising two elements one carried by the hood or canopy andthe other connected to the fixed structure upon which the hood or canopyrotates.

2. In sighting apparatus for use with ordnance, of the kind comprising asighting element which is mounted independently of the gun or guns andis capable of rotation in azimuth, this sighting element being employedfor transmitting training angles or elevation angles or both to the gunor guns, the combination with the sighting element, of a rotatable tablesupporting the sighting element, a hood WXN'OI protecting imamsaidsighting element and rotatably mounted on a fixed part of the structureindependently of said sighting element and said rotatable table, adevice for imparting rotary motion to said table, and gearing interposedbetween said device and the hood or canopy, this gearing comprising twoelements one carried by the hood or canopy and the other connected tothe fixed structure upon which the hood or canopy rotates, and alsocomprising a shaft having a flexible coupling between said device andthe first mentioned gearing element.

' In testimony whereof we affiX our signatnres.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAXVSON. JAMES HORNE.

